House of Danger
by Rainmist94
Summary: Eddie and Patricia's life after Season 2 seems perfectly normal. But nothing stays normal for long! Contains Peddie, Fabina, Jara, and Amfie!
1. Planning, or not?

**A/N: This takes place the morning after the end of Season 2. Please R&R and tell me how I did! **

Chapter One

Patricia yawned as she woke up slowly. The gothic redhead happily remembered the night before when Eddie had banished Senkhara and the evil spirit, along with Rufus Zeno, had vanished forever to the underworld. She and Eddie had fun partying with Mara and her new boyfriend, Jerome. It all seemed so perfect. Unfortunately, nothing ever stays perfect forever. Staying quiet so that she didn't wake Joy or Mara, Patricia got dressed and went downstairs. School had been canceled that day due to the previous night when they'd had the party to celebrate the end of the exhibition.

Much to her surprise, Patricia found Eddie already awake and sitting on the couch by himself. He glanced up when he saw her.

"Morning, Yacker," her boyfriend greeted her.

"Morning, weasel," she replied smoothly as she sat down beside him.

"Why are you up so early?" Eddie inquired.

Suddenly realizing that it was only 5:30, Patricia answered, "I just happened to wake up this early. What's your exuse?"

With a small laugh, Eddie replied, "Same as you."

"Is everyone else still asleep?" Patricia asked, silently hoping they were so that she could spend more time with Eddie.

"I guess so. Fabian was asleep when I woke up a few minutes ago."

"Joy and Mara are sound asleep, too," she added.

"And Victor." Eddie laughed quietly.

"What's so funny?"

"Victor. I'm surprised you haven't heard his snoring yet."

Both of them fell silent to listen. A faint rumbling like a lawnmower on rocks echoed in the house. Patricia laughed.

"See?" Eddie pointed out looking highly amused.

Their eyes met in laughter and Patricia found herself staring into his dark green eyes. Eddie moved in on her so that their sides were touching and their lips within connecting distance. Patricia placed her mouth on his, enjoying the feeling of having him this close to her. It seemed like hours to Patricia, but when they parted, it had only been a minute at the longest.

"Yacker, there's something I've been wanting to tell you," Eddie began. Patricia watched him intently through blue-green eyes. He never got a chance to finish, however, because Fabian walked in and Nina followed.

"Hi, guys," Nina said with a small yawn.

Standing beside Nina, Fabian murmured a 'good morning' to her and he put his arm around her. Nina giggled and they leaned in to kiss.

"Take your sappy romantic stuff elsewhere." Eddie inturrupted them, causing both to blush. Patricia smiled at his comment, seeing as they had been like that no more than a few minutes ago.

"Fine," Fabian grumbled. Nina pulled him away and they went towards Eddie and Fabian's room. Just as they left, Amber skipped in with Mara, Joy, Alfie, Jerome, and Mick. The couples all sat by each other. Joy and Mick must have felt uncomfortable amongst all of them because they seperated themselves from the others.

"Where's Nina?" Amber questioned.

"Last seen with Fabian, heading down towards his room," answered Patricia.

Squealing in delight, Amber sat closer to Alfie. Mara was fairly close to Jerome as well. Joy and Mick had left to the kitchen to help Trudy prepare breakfast. Patricia couldn't blame them either. It must have been awkward, being around happy couples and still being single.

Trudy's voice came from the kitchen. "Breakfast will be ready soon!"

Patricia's stomach growled, revealing how hungry she was.

Eddie smirked at her. "You sound hungry," he teased. A roar from his own stomach followed his words.

"Sounds like I'm not the only one," she countered.

Jerome and Alfie laughed while Mara tried to hide her own amusement.

Amber just exclaimed happily, "You two are _so_ cute together."

At this, Patricia rolled her eyes and Eddie ignored Amber completely. But inside, Patricia adored hearing her say that.

When breakfast was ready, all the students at Anubis house dug into the feast Trudy had prepared for them. Nina and Fabian joined them, too. Over the meal, Mick announced that he was leaving to go back to Australia after breakfast.

They all said good-bye, but Joy seemed to be the most disappointed out of all of them at his leaving.

Afterwards, they'd all gone their own ways. Nina and Fabian had gone to the movies with Amber and Alfie, Mara and Jerome were in Jerome's room, Eddie was in the kitchen doing God-knows-what, and Joy was with Patricia in their room.

"I'm going to miss Mick," Joy said with a hint of longing in her voice.

"You like him, don't you?" Patricia guessed.

"Yeah," Joy whispered.

"Talk to him then," Patricia suggested.

"I can't!" her friend fretted.

"Joy, when you first figured out that I like Eddie, you pressured me into telling him. Now, I'm pressuring you to tell Mick that you care about him," Patricia said matter-of-factly.

"Well, I suppose I could-" Joy began, but was cut off by Patricia.

"Great! He has his laptop now; go online and VideoChat!"

"Okay, okay." Joy finally gave up as the door opened and Eddie walked in.

"Weren't you in the kitchen?" Patricia inquired.

"Victor threw me out," Eddie said, his eyes showing the humor he had cleverly kept out of his voice.

"I'll leave you two alone." Joy smiled as she spoke and left with her laptop.

"She seemed quick to leave us alone," Eddie commented a little suspiciously.

With a sigh, Patricia ignored his comment. "I don't think I want to know why Victor banished you from the kitchen this time."

Eddie shrugged with a smile on his lips and put himself next to Patricia on her bed. Patricia figured he just wanted to be closer to her. As Eddie put his arm around her waist and pulled her closer, Patricia smiled. She was about to ask what he was doing when he pressed his lips against hers in a kiss. It was much longer than the one that morning. When they came apart, Patricia laid her head on Eddie's chest. Both must have been tired from that morning because soon after, they fell asleep.

* * *

"Patricia?" The sleepy redhead roused at the soft sound of her boyfriend's voice by her ear. She felt him hold her closer.

"What time is it?" Patricia murmured.

"About four," Eddie responded.

"Are the others back?"

"Yes. They came back a while ago, I think."

"How long have you been awake?"

"Maybe 15 minutes? I don't remember exactly. How many more questions are you going to ask?"

"Just one," Patricia promised. "What were you doing that whole time?" Her head hadn't moved at all since she fell asleep, making it impossible for Eddie to get up without waking her.

Eddie looked slightly embarrassed as he answered, "Watching you. You look so peaceful when you're asleep. And the best part is that you're not noisy."

"I'm having mixed feelings right now," Patricia muttured against his chest.

"About what?"

"Whether I should feel insulted or not."

"Take it as a compliment," Eddie advised. "That way you don't get mad at me."

Patricia sighed. Then, she remembered their conversation from earlier that day. Rising slowly, she asked, "What was it you were going to tell me this morning?"

Was it Patricia's imagination, or did Eddie look really nervous suddenly?

"Nothing important," he assured her hastily, but Patricia didn't buy it.

Even though Patricia was extremely curious now, she just let it go. She and Eddie went downstairs and found Mara and Jerome in the kitchen. Seeing as Eddie was banned, they traveled to Alfie's room, where Amber was trying to escape Alfie's socks.

"Eww! Get them away from me!" she squeaked, trying to evade the smelly pair of socks Alfie was dangling near her.

Alfie dropped the socks and clung onto her, making them both fall into a fit of laughter.

"We're in the room here, guys!" Patricia warned them.

"Oh, hi Patricia! Hi Eddie!" Amber welcomed them.

"Where were you two?" Alfie asked them. "We've been back for two hours and haven't seen you at all."

Exchanging an awkward glance with Patricia, Eddie answered, "We both fell asleep."

"Didn't you sleep last night?" Amber looked confused.

"Both of us woke up really early." Patricia supported her boyfriend, then added, "But we would probably fall asleep on a day we did get enough sleep anyways."

"True," Amber admitted and beamed brightly for no reason. "And what were you guys doing while everyone else was asleep?"

"Uh, talking," Eddie responded. Patricia figured he felt weird saying that since they hadn't _only_ been talking.

"Hey, we should all go to the beach tomorrow!" Amber exclaimed happily.

"That was completely random, Amber, but okay, I'm in." Patricia agreed and Eddie echoed it, probably just because Patricia agreed to go.

"Sure, I love the beach!" Alfie sounded thrilled at Amber's suggestion as he agreed. With a delightful squeal, Amber raced off to tell the others and Alfie followed her.

"Have you noticed how eager everyone has been to leave us by ourselves?" Eddie asked.

Patricia shrugged in response, hoping her friends weren't planning anything for the two of them.

**A/N: I know it might not be that intresting so far, but I don't feel like I have any super-great ideas. Please review to give me some ideas on how I can make this better or just review on how I did so far. Either one is fine. But I definetely need some more ideas. Right now, I only know what my next few chapters will be. **

**~Rainstar42**


	2. The Beach

**A/N: Here's Chapter 2! I finished writing the next few chapters in class due to boredom, so I'll post them once I've finished typing. The other pairings will be shown more after the next one or two chapters.**

Chapter Two

Patricia's POV:

The next day, Patricia dug through her pile of clothes looking for a swimsuit. Piper had said that she'd given her two. One was green, but it was a little too bright for Patricia's liking. Instead, she chose a dark purple bikini. Quickly, she changed, putting shorts and a tank top over her swimsuit.

She found everyone else ready when she came downstairs. Everyone except Joy.

"What about Joy?" Patricia questioned.

"She didn't want to come," Amber replied and Patricia knew why. Joy would only feel left out with all the couples around.

"Let's go!" Nina urged.

They all headed out to the cabs waiting and they arrived at the beach in about an hour.

Salty ocean breezes blew over the thin, soft sand. Powerful blue waves crashed down on the oceanshore, making the sand around it marshy. The Anubis students looked out the windows of the cabs as they approached the beach. When the cabs slowed to a stop, Amber screeched out excitedly,

"We're here!"

Amber and Alfie threw their stuff down on the sand and sprinted into the water as soon as they arrived and began playfully splashing each other, laughing. Mara and Jerome quickly joined in. Nina and Fabian decided to sit down and talk about all of their great times as Sibuna. Even Patricia missed those times when they were always chasing some mystery or another. Patricia and Eddie rested near the oceanshore on the dry sand, feet away from Nina's and Fabian's giggling.

"You want to go in with them?" Eddie asked his girlfriend, signaling towards Amber, Alfie, Mara, and Jerome.

"Sure," she said and got up slowly.

They chased each other down to the ocean and nearly ran into Amber and Alfie. While trying to evade them, Eddie tripped over a rock and fell into the water, luckily not hurting himself. Patricia tried not to laugh and miserably failed. In response, Eddie splashed her with salt water and she gave him a challenging look.

"Wait!" Amber called. "Wait, wait..." Once she was clear of the shore, she yelled, "I'm clear!"

Then, Eddie and Patricia started having a water war. Alfie, Mara, and Jerome, foolishly staying behind, headed away from them, trying to escape further soaking. As the others fled the scene, the couple were all but drowning each other. When they both grew tired, Eddie and Patricia headed back to the girls, their wet bodies close together. The guys had gone further down the beach. Eddie left Patricia to Amber and joined the guys. Nina and Mara were a bit farther away, chatting amongst themselves.

"So Patricia, how are you and Eddie?" Amber asked eagerly.

Patricia gave Amber a questioning look.

Amber said it like it was obvious. "How are you and Eddie? You know, like your relationship."

"Okay, I guess," Patricia replied, unsure how to answer pretty much anything Amber said, and certainly unsure how to answer a direct and personal question like that.

"Okay?" Amber sounded horrified.

"Yeah, what's wrong with that?" Patricia didn't see what her blonde friend was freaking out about.

"You aren't supposed to be 'okay' in a relationship, you're supposed to be great," Amber told her in a 'duh' voice.

_Does she have a point?_ Patricia wondered.

She must have looked worried because Amber said, "Don't worry, Patricia. I'll help you through this."

_Oh, great,_ Patricia thought. _Not only do I apparently have relationship problems, but now I have a ditzy blonde helping me!_

"What seems to be the source of your problem?" Amber inquired.

Muttering quietly so that Amber didn't hear, Patricia answered, "I'm speaking to it."

"What was that?"

Thinking quickly, Patricia replied, "You tell me; you're supposed to be the expert here, remember."

"Oh, right." Suddenly, Amber looked lost. Then, she said, "Say the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Eddie."

Patricia thought of Eddie. When they first met, they had pretended to hate each other. Now, they spent every moment they could at each other's side. She remembered him when he'd banished Senkhara.

"Well?" Amber sounded impatient.

"I have no idea. Our relationship has been way too complicated for me to think straight!" Patricia knew that she also didn't want to see her real feelings. It frightened her, but she wasn't about to admit that.

"Ugh! I'll go ask Eddie the same thing and tell you what he says." Amber got up, but Patricia grabbed her arm.

"Are you going to tell him what I said?" Patricia questioned.

"No, don't freak out about it."

That was the last thing she said before Amber wandered off to talk to Eddie. Patricia saw her seperate him from the other guys and talk to him. She couldn't be sure, but she thought she saw Amber jump up squealing in happiness.

When Amber skipped back, Patricia asked, "What did he say?"

"Well, first I told him that you said he was hot-" Amber began, but Patricia cut her off.

"You did _what_?" Patricia tried her best to stay cool, but she was freaking out on the inside.

"Oh, come on, you were totally thinking it," Amber put out.

So, Patricia really had thought that at the time, but she just said nothing.

"Don't worry, though, he said-" Amber was once again inturrupted, this time by Eddie who was walking over to them. He asked Amber to talk to Patricia alone and the blonde clearly said yes, then danced off happily.

"Did you really say that I'm hot?" Eddie questioned her, sounding a little disbelieving.

"Yeah," Patricia admitted. Technically, she had. She'd thought it, but that was the same as saying it in her opinion.

"Amber told you what I said, didn't she?"

"No, you kind of inturrupted her before she told me."

"Sorry about that," Eddie said, yet Patricia thought he looked relieved that she hadn't told her anything. "But I said that I thought you look pretty hot, too."

Smiling, Patricia glanced up at Eddie and saw him smiling, too.

"By the way, are you ever going to tell me what you were going to say that morning?" She just remembered it.

Eddie laughed and said teasingly, "Maybe..."

"Eddie!" she exclaimed.

"I might tell you some other time," Eddie said thoughtfully.

Punching him playfully in the shoulder, Patricia said, "You're going to have to tell me sometime."

Suddenly looking nervous, Eddie replied, "I guess I will." Then, he ran off to hang with the guys some more while they were still at the beach.

Curiousity threatened to destroy Patricia. Now she was sure of it: whatever he was going to say was what was making him act so nervous all the time! Patricia was nearly dying to find out what it was.

"How did it go?" Amber came up to Patricia.

"Great," she replied, but she was still trying to figure it out.

"Why do you seem so off, then?" Amber was really good at reading emotions sometimes.

"It's just that... the other morning, while everyone else was asleep, he tried to tell me something, but Nina and Fabian stopped him and I think it was important. But now, whenever I bring it up, he just leaves or changes the subject!" Patricia spilled it out to Amber, ignoring the fact that the blonde was the last person she would normally tell.

"Wow, you've got it bad," Amber said, shaking her head.

"What do you mean?" Patricia was utterly confused.

"Well, you must care about him a lot to react like this over something so small. Do you think that maybe you're in love with him?"

Patricia's head spun. Eddie _did_ make her feel really special and she knew that she liked him a lot. But did she love him? Amber seemed to read her thoughts, yet again.

"How can you not be sure whether you love someone or not?"

Hopelessly, Patricia shrugged. The whole rest of the time at the beach, Patricia thought of Eddie. She remembered all they'd been through together: meeting each other, him giving her the nickname "Yacker," Donkey Day, detention, their first kiss, dates, and all of their relationship complications. Somehow, they always got through it together. And suddenly she knew the answer. It dawned on her like daylight.

She was in love with Eddie Sweet.

**A/N: Ta-daaa! It took me a while to finish, seeing as I'm really bad at typing, but at least I have a few more already written and ready to type! Unfortunately, the next chapter is really short. But I'll post another chapter at the same time to make up for it!**

**~Rainstar42**


	3. Assassin's Note

**A/N: Chapter 3 is here! I have been really side-tracked lately and have no idea when I will find time to post the next few chapters, I promise! (soon, hopefully)**

Chapter Three

Eddie's POV:

Ever since they'd returned from the beach, Eddie's mind had been on Patricia. She was right when she said he'd eventually have to tell her. Although, Patricia had seemed rather distracted, too. Eddie noticed that she's been acting really weird, at least around him, since Amber spoke to her. _What had Amber done to her?_ All Eddie knew was that Patricia's blonde friend had said something to knock Patricia out of it. Lately, Patricia hadn't pulled any pranks on his dad's class; it was really unlike her. _Did Amber tell her?_ Eddie wondered. But, he knew Amber. True, she would go around saying things to get couples together, but she kept her promises. And Eddie had made her promise not to tell anyone, especially Patricia, what he'd meant to say that morning. The truth was that he was in love with her. Whenever he came close to telling her, something made him stop. Nothing seemed to be able to make him say what he really wanted to say.

In depression, he went to the kitchen, not caring that he had been banned, and stopped when he spotted Patricia and the rest of the Sibunas. Their club still met, even though the mystery was over. Eddie figured they just had fun being together. _Just like I like being around Patricia._ Shaking the thought away, Eddie grabbed the can of whipped cream and left.

While he was leaving, he noticed Patricia staring after him. Confusion swept over him as he tried to figure out why Patricia had been so absent-minded lately. It was like he hardly knew her anymore.

Patricia's POV:

When she saw Eddie during the Sibuna meeting, Patricia had suddenly felt happier. Happier than she had felt in days. She knew she'd been out of it since Amber made her realize her true feelings for Eddie. Since that moment, she hadn't got into any trouble at all. The minute she became consious of it, though, Patricia had pranked Mr. Sweet's whole class. Even though she got detention, it had made her feel better. Eddie had seemed fairly amused, too.

Everything seemed fine now, except for the fact that now Patricia hardly ever saw Eddie. Whenever she did see him, Patricia couldn't figure out what she was supposed to say to him! It appeared that Eddie felt the same way, because they had mainly avoided each other.

Just when Patricia felt like she was on the brink of a mental breakdown, her friend inquired, "Patricia, what's wrong?"

"Eddie," she answered dully.

"What did he do?" Joy suddenly sounded concerned.

"Nothing," Patricia assured her, then added hesitantly after a moment, "At least I don't think so."

"Then why do you keep staring off at nothing!" Joy seemed highly frustrated.

Patricia didn't really want to tell her, but Joy had never told one of her secrets before and she found herself pouring out what happened. Joy listened attentively.

The second Patricia had finished, Joy opened her mouth to speak, but a loud call came from downstairs.

"Patricia!"

Both Joy and Nina rushed downstairs. Nina and Fabian were standing at the door with a letter. When Nina saw Joy, she was rather quick to get rid of her and took Patricia into Nina's room. Amber was gone, so Nina, Fabian, and Patricia were alone.

"Do you mind telling me what this is about?" Patricia asked in irritation.

"This," Nina said and held up a letter.

"It's a letter," Patricia said in a bored tone.

"Read it," Nina urged.

With a sigh, Patricia took the letter. She read it and her blood froze.

_Anubis students, _

_You'll pay for killing Rufus Zeno. His death will not go unavenged. I'll come after you, one by one. And my first victim is the Osirion._

**A/N: Yeah, I know, really short chapter, but it works. The next chapter should be a lot longer, I hope.**

**~Rainstar42**


	4. Complications and Assumptions

**A/N: Chapter 4 has been posted! I think I'm slowly getting better at typing seeing as I finally have a reason to type! :D**

Chapter Four

Patricia's POV:

"It's not signed. Who do you think it is?" Nina inquired.

Amber and Alfie, who'd recently returned, had joined Nina, Fabian, and Patricia. Eddie was left out of the situation for now, seeing as knowing his life was at risk would only cause him to panic.

After discussing the issue for about an hour, the five Sibunas decided to have Patricia stay as close to Eddie as possible until a solution to finding the secret murderer's identity. Patricia agreed, but she didn't know how she was going to manage staying around Eddie all the time and avoid awkward moments or questions like why she was always around him. All of them opted to find out why this person was so determined to kill them for the death of Rufus Zeno. No one they knew even liked Rufus.

"Sibuna?" Amber suggested after their conversation, placing one hand over her eye.

"Sibuna," the others said together, placing one hand over their eye as well.

With that, they all seperated and Patricia was left to follow Eddie around for the rest of the day. He was in his room, as usual, on his laptop, but glanced directly at her when she entered the room. She still had no idea whay excuse she was going to use if he asked her what she was doing there.

"Hey, Yacker," he said, closing his laptop and setting it aside as Patricia came closer.

"Hi, weasel." She quickly tried to round up an excuse.

"Have you been trying to avoid me lately?"

Well, Patricia certainly hadn't been expecting _that_! "No! Of course not! What made you think I was?"

"We haven't really seen each other the past few days." He paused, then added almost uncertainly, "You've been acting kind of strange since we went to the beach."

Patricia was nearly sure her heart stopped beating. She fought hard to keep calm. "Have I?"

"Yeah, you have." Eddie looked confused. "Did Amber say something?"

"Amber? No, not really."

"What do you mean by 'not really'?" Eddie gave her a questioning look she couldn't ignore.

Sighing, Patricia told him the half truth. "She thinks I have_ relationship problems._" Then, after a slight pause, she continued with, "Both of us, actually."

Eddie and Patricia were silent for a moment, taking in what she'd said. Then, they both burst into spontaneous laughter. It felt good, almost like it had before Amber made her realize her true feelings.

The two stared into each other's eyes, their laughter slowly dying away. They leaned closer, but then the door creaked open and Fabian walked in.

"Oh, sorry guys, I didn't know you were in here," Fabian said cluelessly, but Patricia guessed that he knew they were there and had come to make sure nothing bad had happened.

Eddie seemed to guess his roommate was lying as well, however, he didn't say anything other than a careless "whatever," before turning back to his laptop again.

Patricia was about to suggest that they go out that night, but opted against it seeing as a murderer was on the loose and Fabian was in the room. In the end, all she said was a quiet, "Bye, Eddie." Then, she got up and left, leaving Eddie staring after her.

* * *

Nina's POV:

With a deep look of concentration, Nina studied the letter over and over again. It didn't make any sense. Who knew about the Osirion, mask of Anubis, cared for Rufus, and, overall, knew about his death? There was no way it could have been anyone they knew. No one actually showed caring for Rufus, except...

Realization hit Nina and she exclaimed to Amber, who was on the other side of the room, "It's Vera!"

"Who and what is Vera?" Amber asked absently. Then, she looked at the letter in Nina's hand and a lightbulb must have gone off in her head because she cried out in shock, "_Vera_ wrote the letter?"

"I can't think of anyone else it would be," Nina replied.

"True," Amber realized slowly. "I'll make sure Alfie and Patricia know. You tell Fabian."

"Okay," Nina agreed. As Amber hopped off to tell the others, Nina found Fabian in his room with Eddie. Eddie had earbuds in. That was good; he always listened to loud music. Nina felt slightly surprised that Patricia wasn't with him.

"Fabian!" Nina called. "We need to talk."

He leaped to his feet and followed Nina out. "What is this about?" he asked when they were out of earshot.

"Vera sent the letter!" Nina fought to keep her voice down.

"Are you positive?"

"Well, no. But who else would it be?"

Still looking a bit uncertain, Fabian said, "I guess you're right."

"Now let's get to the Sibuna clearing. I'll text Amber."

* * *

Amber's POV:

She'd just told Patricia and Alfie the news when her phone buzzed. Nina had texted her to meet them in the Sibuna clearing. Amber quickly told the other two and they met Nina and Fabian in the clearing within minutes.

"What's all this about? We know who it is now, don't we?" Patricia didn't sound happy to be drug all the way out there.

"Kind of," Nina admitted.

"What do you mean 'kind of?'" Alfie questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"We can only actually assume it's Vera. It's what made the most sense. However, we don't really have any proof."

"So, first you give us unreliable information, then you drag us all the way out here to discuss that we know nothing more." Patricia sounded really annoyed, but Amber guessed that it was a cover-up because she didn't want others to know how worried she was. "Eddie could be killed while we're gone!"

"Patricia's right you know," Amber supported her friend.

Nina must have figured out that they were both correct because she said, "All right, we'll go back."

Amber, for one, didn't see why they'd walked that far only to go straight back where they'd came from. But she didn't complain, unlike Patricia, as they headed back. Even though she wouldn't admit it, Amber was sure Patricia was in love with Eddie. And she needed a plan to get them both to admit that they loved each other. Leaving them alone hadn't worked, so spending every moment together might. While Eddie's life was at risk, Patricia would spend every spare moment at his side. Then, they would have lots of time alone.

When they reached the house, Patricia immediately ran off to find Eddie. To be sure he was okay, the rest of the Sibunas sent Amber to check as well. Amber silently followed Patricia as she rushed into Eddie's room. Eddie's familiar voice asked Patricia what she was doing and Amber let out a sigh of relief. Seeing as he was okay, the blonde fashionista left to go back to her friends.

At the news of Eddie's safety, Nina and Fabian left so that Alfie was alone with Amber. They stood together in the main room of the house. Victor was upstairs studying, Joy didn't ever seem to be anywhere anymore, and the rest of the house was with each other.

"So, Amber," Alfie began.

"Yeah, Alfie?" Amber turned her kind blue eyes toward her boyfriend.

"You know how you've been talking about getting Patricia and Eddie closer together?"

"Totally! Except, I've run dry on ideas."

"Well, then today's your lucky day!" Amber's head shot up excitedly at Alfie's words.

"You've got an idea?" she asked, energy surging through her.

"Not only is it an idea, sweet Amber. It's also to most genius plan ever! There's no way they're getting out of this one..."

**A/N: Soo? Tell me how I did! Reviews always make me want to keep updating! :)**

**~Rainstar42**


	5. Alfie's Genius Plan

**A/N: This chapter was really fun to write! Hope you like it! :)**

Chapter Five

Amber's POV:  
The blonde peeked around a corner, catching a glimpse of Patricia and Eddie chatting by Eddie's locker in the school. Both of them looked slightly awkward. Alfie approached her from the side. Their eyes locked and Amber nodded with a grin. It was finally time to put their plan to the test.

Together, Amber and Alfie struted up to Patricia and Eddie. Patricia turned towards Amber and gave her a suspicious look. She had good reason, too.

Gazing at her a little too innocently, Amber said, "Can you guys come with Alfie and me for a second? We want to show you something."

With a quick glance at his girlfriend, Eddie replied, "Whatever."

* * *

Patricia's POV:

All she really remembered was Amber sneaking up to Eddie and her before they both ended up locked in one of the old, useless classrooms. Eddie was sitting on the floor wearing an extremely bored expression on his face.

"I feel like we're in prison," he muttered.

"We kind of are," Patricia began, but a quick look from Eddie made her quiet. She sighed and sat down beside him.

"So, do you know why she locked us in here?" Eddie asked.

"No clue," Patricia responded.

"Great."

Both of them just sat there doing nothing for about 15 minutes before Eddie got up.

"What are you doing?" Patricia inquired.

He didn't answer her question. Instead, Eddie went over to the door and tried opening it again. It didn't budge.

"It's locked, you know," Patricia pointed out helpfully.

Shooting her a glare, Eddie replied, "I know that."

"Then why try?"

"Amber and Alfie will unlock it eventually. I was just hoping they would have done it by now."

"Amber and Alfie?"

"Yeah, they said something about not letting us out until we talked things out." Eddie sounded confused but Patricia knew exactly what she meant.

She tensed and Eddie asked, "What?"

"I am going to _kill_ Amber the minute I get out of here!"

There was a sudden squeak of alarm from outside the door. Patricia walked over and heard Amber's voice on the other side.

"Now, I don't want to let you out! I like living, thank you very much!"

"Amber!" Alfie scolded.

"Sorry!" she apologized.

Their footsteps and arguing voices grew fainter and fainter until Patricia was sure they were gone.

"Nice going, Yacker," Eddie said sarcastically. "Now they're gone."

"Hey! I didn't know they were right there!"

They stood there bickering for the next five minutes before Eddie finally gave in.

"Okay, fine. I don't blame you."

"How long do you think it's going to be before they let us out?" Patricia wondered aloud in attempt to change the subject.

"Probably a while," Eddie answered as they both sat down against the wall, leaning on each other.

Letting out a yawn, Patricia closed her eyes. Her head was resting on his shoulder and before she fell asleep, Patricia felt Eddie put his head on hers.

* * *

Amber's POV:

"Alfie, you're still a genius!" Amber squealed and then kissed him.

"Thanks, Ambs. It was a pretty good idea, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, except for Patricia wanting me dead, it was a brilliant idea!"

"Do you think we should let them out now?"

"No... they should stay in there until they stop avoiding each other all the time."

"That didn't even make sense."

"Yes it did!"

"How do you avoid someone you're locked in a room with?"

"Oh, yeah," Amber realized. "But they're still staying in there."

Alfie just sighed and decided to give up.

Then, they went back to just talking about Alfie's master plan.

* * *

Eddie's POV:

Well, Amber and Alfie _hadn't_ released them anytime soon. Eddie and Patricia found that out the hard way. When Eddie had woken up, he accidentally nudged Patricia and she unwillingly roused. Now, they were just sitting and talking.

"What did Amber mean when she said we both have 'relationship problems'?"

Patricia looked really awkward. "I... don't really know."

But Eddie knew she wasn't telling the truth. "You're lying."

Shocked at his accusation, Patricia snapped, "I am not lying!"

"Yes you are." Eddie was starting to get annoyed. Then, a thought struck him. _Did Patricia feel the same way? _There was only one way to find out. He leaned over and kissed her. Patricia was obviously surprised, but didn't pull away. Instead, she pressed herself closer to him.

As they drew apart, Eddie whispered, "I love you."

She must have heard because she murmured in his ear, "I love you, too."

They gazed into each other's eyes, smiling. Just knowing how Patricia felt made Eddie feel amazing. Their lips met again, lasting a long time.

For a while, Patricia and Eddie just stared at each other happily. A creak made them snap their heads towards the door.

Amber and Alfie were standing in the doorway, looking defeated.

"Okay," Amber said emotionlessly. "You can leave now."

Getting up quickly, they made their escape before Amber and Alfie could change their minds.

**A/N: Lots of Peddie and Amfie in this chapter! Please review and tell me which other pairings I should fit in more in the next chapters! :)**

**~Rainstar42**


	6. Someone No One Knows

**A/N: I had a hard time thinking of what to write for this story, please give ideas if you have any! They would be really helpful! But anyways, I still finished Chapter Six! This one will involve more of the mysterious killer with a little Fabina.**

Chapter Six

Nina's POV:

Ever since the it had been revealed that there was a myserious killer on the loose, Nina had found it hard to sleep at night. Probably because of the Chosen One having a special connection with the Osirion thing. She felt like it was her being threatened, not Eddie. With a sigh, Nina glanced around her bedroom. Amber was sound asleep. It was only 4 AM. She walked out and went downstairs. A creak disturbed her.

The door to Fabian and Eddie's room was half open. It was always closed at night. Fear struck Nina as she peered inside. Fabian was sleeping, but Eddie was gone. However, it didn't look like he'd been taken. His side of the room was neat, not neat like he'd just cleaned, but neat like how his room normally was. If Eddie had been kidnapped, or killed, some evidence would have been left. So where was he?

"Fabian," Nina whisper-shouted, shaking Fabian's shoulder.

"Hmm?" Fabian mumbled, not looking pleased to be woken up so early. Though, it wouldn't matter anyways. It was Saturday; they didn't have school.

"Eddie's gone," she explained.

Sitting up, Fabian took one look at Eddie's bed, saw he was gone, and stood up. "Where is he?" Fabian questioned Nina.

"If I knew that, I wouldn't have woken you up," Nina grumbled, making it sound obvious.

Not replying, Fabian followed Nina out of his room and into the hallway. Silently, they searched the other rooms at the ground level, then stepped upstairs. Since Eddie clearly hadn't been in Nina's room, they checked Joy, Mara, and Patricia's room. Fabian motioned to towards Patricia's side of the room and Nina saw Eddie asleep at the foot of Patricia's bed. It looked like he'd only recently wandered into her room because he kept shifting around as if he wasn't completely asleep. Patricia didn't seem fully asleep, either. Her foot twitched every once in a while, hitting Eddie's shoulder.

Seeing as Eddie was fine, Nina and Fabian padded back to Fabian's room. He settled back down in his bed and Nina placed herself beside him. Nina leaned against him and he stared down into her lake-green eyes.

"So, at least Eddie's safe," Fabian murmured, breaking the silence that engulfed them.

"Yeah, it's been weird."

"How?"

"It feels like I'm being threatened, not him. Maybe because he's basically my brother or something?" Nina shook her head in confusion and gazed up at Fabian.

"Probably," he replied, "He did sense that you needed him when we had to give the Mask of Anubis to Senkhara."

"I suppose. But, it just feels..." Nina paused, searching for a word, yet all she came up with was, "Different."

Fabian nodded in understanding. Wrapping his arm around her, he said, "You should try not to let it worry you so much. We'll find whoever this person that wants to kill him is and take care of it before it becomes a problem."

"Really?" Nina asked, appearing slightly doubtful.

"Really," Fabian assured her. He kissed her gently and, for a while, Nina forgot all of her worries.

There was nothing but her and Fabian.

* * *

Patricia's POV:

Patricia woke up feeling exhausted. Eddie had come to her at four in the morning and complained about not being able to sleep. He said he felt like he was being threatened. Even though he had no idea why, Patricia did. It had to be the killer who was trying to hurt him. She still didn't want to tell him; it would only worry him more. So, she'd let him stay in her room, even though they'd both found it hard to sleep.

"Are you awake?" Eddie's voice came from the other end of her bed.

"Yes," Patricia replied sleepily.

"Did I wake you up?"

"No, but you didn't help."

"Sorry about that."

"Don't worry." Patricia shook it off. "But you should probably get back to your room before Victor wakes up."

Eddie nodded. The cranky housekeeper wouldn't like the thought of Eddie not staying in his own room for the night. As he left, Patricia stared after him.

"Why was he here?" Joy, who had clearly just woken up, inquired from her side of the room.

"He woke me up at 4 o'clock," Patricia answered.

Joy looked surprised. "What did he do that for?"

"I don't know," she replied with a sigh. "He was saying something about not being able to sleep. Now stop asking me questions. I'm still waking up."

"Okay." Joy was smiling at Patricia as she exited the room.

What had made Joy so happy? Patricia's friend had been feeling a bit down lately due to Mick's leaving. She really liked him and Patricia had encouraged her to tell him how she felt. Then, Patricia realized that she never asked what Mick said. Patricia made a mental note to ask her later.

Getting up slowly, Patricia threw on a pair of jeans and a dark purple top. By the time she got downstairs, Trudy had already prepared breakfast. Mara wasn't there because she was spending the weekend with her family. So Jerome hadn't bothered to wake up yet. Amber had managed to convince Alfie to take her out for the day and they decided to go out to breakfast, so they weren't there, either. Therefore, the only ones who showed up to breakfast were Nina, Fabian, Joy, Patricia, and Eddie.

After breakfast, Eddie left to take a nap and Patricia, Nina, and Fabian had arranged a Sibuna meeting, even though Amber and Alfie weren't there.

"What's this about?" Patricia asked.

"The mysterious person who wants to kill Eddie," Nina responded.

"Oh, right."

"We don't know anything new, though," Fabian put out, then added hesitantly, "Do we?"

"Well, not really," Nina admitted. "I was thinking that since we think it's Vera, we should go out looking for her. Not all of us, obviously. One of us would have to stay here and make sure the killer doesn't attack while we're gone. But the others can go out and search. We're less likely to be attacked in a group."

"That makes sense." Fabian nodded slowly.

"Yeah, maybe. But who's going to stay here?" Patricia questioned.

Nina answered rationally, "Seeing as you have a stronger relationship with Eddie than the rest of us, I think you should stay. When Amber and Alfie get back, we'll have one or both of them come with us."

"Okay," Patricia agreed.

With that, they all went on their ways. Nina and Fabian headed up to Nina's room and Patricia peeked inside Eddie's room. He was sound alseep on his bed, snoring quietly. She laughed inwardly. _He's so cute when he's sleeping,_ she thought. Then, Patricia made a mental note to never say anything that cheesy out loud. The gothic redhead was about to leave, when a shadow in the corner of the room fell over her.

A figure approached. It looked dangerous and absolutely terrifying. Patricia knew immediately that it wasn't Vera. But, it kind of looked like her.

"Hello, I'm Izabel. And I'm here to avenge my true love's death."

**A/N: The myserious killer is revealed! I'll try to update the next chapter faster. And there are still more secrets to be revealed...**

**~Rainstar42**


	7. Izabel's Surprise

**A/N: This chapter will be interesting. Peddie, some Fabina, and a whole lot of Izabel and her problems with wanting revenge on everyone and everything! :D**

Chapter Seven

Patricia POV:

Patricia stared in horror at Izabel, who was approaching her slowly, step by step. Eddie was still asleep, but now he was shifting as if he knew something was going on. Her blue-green gaze went from Eddie to Izabel and back repeatedly as Patricia took a step back.

"Protecting your boyfriend, are you?" Izabel purred as if it were pathetic. "The Osirion should be able to take care of himself."

Suddenly, another Izabel appeared through the window. When Patricia glanced at the window in confusion, the Izabel in the room gasped in fear and horror. She must know who it is.

"Izabel," said the Izabel ourside, who now seemed shockingly familiar. "Let them go."

Practically blazing in fury, Izabel retreated into the shadows and vanished. The Izabel through the window was gone, too.

"Who, or what, was that?"

Whirling around, Patricia saw Eddie, wide awake, his eyes locked in the corned Izabel had vanished.

All at once, Patricia knew there was no escaping the truth. Part of her was glad to finally tell him; she hated keeping secrets from him, but she still felt apologetic as she explained everything. Eddie was a full member of Sibuna, so there wasn't too much to fill in.

"So," Eddie replied when she finished, "Izabel wants to kill me and all of you."

"Pretty much." Patricia watched him, looking for anger that she didn't tell him before, but she only saw understanding.

"I get why you didn't tell me," he murmured. They were sitting side by side on Eddie's bed, leaning against each other's shoulder.

"Well, I really wanted to tell you, but they said you wouldn't take it well."

"So are we going to tell them I know?" Eddie asked with a sideways glance at Patricia.

"I don't know," Patricia responded.

"Wouldn't it be better if they knew?"

"Wouldn't it be better if Nina didn't freak out because you know?"

Inwardly, Patricia just didn't want to tell them because then Eddie would get closer to Nina. She always understood him better than Patricia did. Patricia didn't really like the idea of having her friend closer to her boyfriend than she was. Eddie seemed to guess her feelings. He leaned in and kissed her gently.

"You shouldn't be jealous of Nina," Eddie said softly. "You're the one I love, not her."

Smiling, Patricia touched his lips with hers again. They stayed there for a while, then a squeal came from the enterance. One Patricia would have recognized anywhere.

"OMG PEDDIE MOMENT!" Amber screeched.

"Peddie?" Eddie inquired cluelessly. Patricia already knew that it was their 'couple name' which Amber had taken the responsibility to create for them.

"Why did you have to say that, Eddie?" Patricia gave her boyfriend a look that made him suddenly nervous to hear the answer.

Amber looked horrified that he didn't know. "Your couple name, duh," she explained.

"Sorry I asked," Eddie muttured.

"And, Patricia, we need to talk to you," Amber added. "Now."

With a sigh, and a knowing glance at Eddie, she said, "Okay, lead the way."

The ditzy blonde took her friend to Nina's room. Fabian and Alfie were already in there.

"I'll assume Eddie's safe," Nina said as they entered.

"Kind of," Patricia admitted. She had decided not to tell them that he knew, but still tell them what happened. Quickly, she explained, ignoring their shocked looks because she'd already gotten over it.

"Our killer's name is Izabel?" Alfie sounded dumbfounded. "That doesn't seem so evil."

"She was evil enough," Patricia replied.

"And there was two of them?" Fabian sounded uncertain as well.

"Yeah, it was weird. They looked kind of similar, too." Patricia must have looked as confused as she felt because Nina spoke up.

"Okay, we'll all think about it and if we find out any more, then we can meet again."

Everyone agreed, forming the Sibuna sign. Then, they all left.

Nina's POV:

Sitting in her room restlessly, Nina pondered over what Patricia had told them. She'd claimed that Eddie was sound asleep the whole time, yet Nina would have assumed that he would have woken up at the sound of Izabel's voice. And she also had a feeling that Patricia wasn't telling the whole truth. But then, she was Patricia.

With a sigh, Nina wandered downstairs. It was nearing seven o' clock and the entire house was scrambling around doing something. Eddie and Patricia were in Eddie's room most of the time, however, they kept going to the kitchen for some reason and Nina was beginning to get concerned. Joy was on her laptop chatting with Mick, no doubt. Jerome and Mara were in Jerome's room possibly eating marshmallows. They brought in a new bag of marshmallows every hour. Amber and Alfie were with them. Then Fabian was… Nina suddenly realized that she hadn't seen Fabian for three hours. He couldn't have…could he?

Paranoia had taken her by storm lately and this did not help. If Fabian had been…well, she didn't want to think about it.

Quickly, she searched the house for him. Nothing. Then, she looked outside and in their usual hiding places. Still nothing. _Okay, Nina,_ she commanded herself, _don't freak out. He's probably just…out somewhere._ Out somewhere getting killed. Complications arose from deep within Nina's head. She just couldn't win with herself anymore. If only Fabian was here. He would be able to calm her down.

"Nina!" A whisper-shout came from behind her. Even though it was quiet, she jumped.

When she turned, she saw Fabian, perfectly fine and alive. Relief washed over her.

"Fabian! I thought Izabel had gotten you!" At her words, Fabian's eyes widened. He must have not realized how worried he had made her until that moment.

"Well, at least now you know I'm fine," Fabian said lamely.

"Yeah," Nina replied quietly. They stood there for a few minutes, completely silent. Fabian was the first one to speak after the seemingly very long, awkward silence.

"Sorry for making you worry like that," he apologized.

"It's okay, you're fine. That's all that matters."

"I guess…" He glanced at Nina, who was shifting her feet back and forth nervously.

"Look, it's going to be fine," Fabian reassured her.

"Thanks," she said gratefully. She really was grateful that Fabian was there to comfort her. It felt like the whole world was counting on her. Suddenly, a dark wave seemed to wash over her. Nina gasped and a voice echoed.

"I'm coming. You can't hide."

Then everything went black.

**A/N: Cliffhanger! I know it's annoying, but I can't help it! Cliffhangers are SO entertaining! Anyways, I'll try to update again soon.**

**~Rainstar42**


	8. Danger in the Forest

**A/N: I might not update this one as frequently until my other story: Storm's Warning is finished. For those of you who like warriors, it's the sequel to my other fanfiction. So, back on topic, here's Chapter 8 with MAJOR Amfie at the end! :)**

Chapter Eight

Nina's POV:

A whirlwind of dark surrounded Nina. Suddenly, she was in her neighborhood back in America. Trees were amongst houses, birds sang in the warm spring air, and her house stood directly in front of her. She felt a rush of joy, but then realized that she should be with her friends at Anubis house.

"I want to go home!" Nina called.

"And you can," answered a voice belonging to a person Nina had wished never to see ever again in her life.

"Vera!" she hissed as she turned around.

"I'm not the enemy here, Nina. But I should probably explain a few things."

"Like what?" Nina narrowed her eyes.

"Izabel is my sister. The only reason I worked for Rufus Zeno is because she made me. She loved Rufus more than life itself. So, they wanted the Mask of Anubis to live together forever. I wanted no part in it; they were both insane. But they forced me. Please, you have to trust me."

"I think I do trust you, but how are you in my head?"

A sudden gust of sorrow hit Nina so hard, she nearly fell down. She knew the sorrow was Vera's and suddenly, the answer just came to her.

"Not long after Rufus died, Izabel found me. She blamed me for Rufus's death and murdered me."

"I'm sorry," Nina murmured. Then, she rose her voice in realization. "Wait, when Patricia said that she'd seen a second Izabel, was that..."

"Me? Yes, actually it was. I must go now. But know that I will help you in your quest to stop Izabel."

Nina nodded and light was poured over her face.

* * *

Fabian's POV:

"Nina!" he shouted as she collapsed. Her eyes were closed, but she was breathing. Was she unconscious?

"Fabian, what's wrong?" Eddie's voice came from behind him.

"She suddenly fainted or something!"

"Is she okay?" Patricia's voice was beside Eddie's. Fabian hadn't realized she was with him, but it made sense. Lately, they'd rarely left each other's side. It was complicated to find either of them alone.

"I don't know!" Fabian exclaimed. Worry was surrounding him.

"Did it have something to do with Izabel?" Eddie blurted out.

Fabian's head snapped up soon enough to catch Patricia giving him a warning glance and Eddie looking slightly guilty.

"How did you know about that?" Fabian inquired.

"Well," Patricia spoke up, "You know how I told you he was asleep the whole time? See, he kind of woke up right before Izabel left and saw what was going on."

"When Nina wakes up, she's not going to like this," Fabian said ruefully.

As he spoke, Nina shifted. Her eyes fluttered open and she darted her eyes back and forth between the three people standing there.

"Nina! You're okay!" Fabian cried out happily.

"I need to talk to you and Patricia, _now_!" she informed.

"About that," Fabian started.

"I already knew about the Izabel thing, so no more secrets," Eddie finished for him.

Instead of having a freak-out attack, Nina merely nodded and they gathered Amber and Alfie before traveling to Nina's room.

"So, here's what happened." Nina explained the whole thing, Vera, Izabel, and what had happened exactly. She left out no detail.

"You're saying I saw a ghost?" Patricia confirmed.

"Um, yeah."

"Let's just hope this isn't another Senkhara situation," Alfie muttured.

"Yeah, I do not want to have to solve _another_ Ancient Egyptian mystery that involves putting our lives in danger," Amber added.

"Even I can't disagree with that," Patricia agreed.

"Guys," Nina reasoned, "I seriously doubt that it's going to be another Senkhara situation."

"If you're sure," Amber said doubtfully.

"I'm sure," Nina sighed.

"You had to risk your lives with the Senkhara situation?" Eddie sounded shocked as he stared around the room.

"Yeah," Patricia admitted, "That was kind of the reason we didn't tell you."

"Anything else you guys didn't tell me?"

After a long while of explaining everything the Sibunas had gone through together, everyone had wandered off and Fabian was left alone with Nina.

"You're sure you're alright?" Fabian asked hesitantly, referring to when she'd passed out earlier.

"Yes, don't worry," Nina assured him. At his still-concerned gaze, she sighed and said, "There's really nothing to worry about."

Fabian allowed a small smile to show on his face. "Okay."

Nina gave him a little peck on the lips.

"We should go out tonight," Fabian suggested.

"Huh?"

"To get your mind off things. You're too stressed. It might help you to relax."

When Nina opened her mouth to object, Fabian added, "They're perfectly capable of defending themselves." He meant Eddie and Patricia and it was true. Eddie and Patricia were both extremely hard to threaten.

She smiled back at him. "Okay, I guess."

Just then, Amber burst into the room. Alfie wasn't with her, which was odd because she was with Alfie when she left the house.

"Come quick!" Amber gasped, clearly out of breath. It was as if she'd been running and Fabian guessed she had been running. "It's Alfie!"

* * *

Alfie's POV:

He was talking with Amber in the woods, when an arrow speared his leg. It had come out of nowhere. Amber had screamed out in horror and drug him back to Anubis house. Now, the usually-perky class clown was lying in his bed, holding towels to his leg, which still had the arrow in it.

His girlfriend had been too scared of hurting him more to take the arrow out herself, so she'd gone to find the others. The wound was bleeding heavily and Alfie's leg was burning where the arrow had struck him: right above his knee.

Amber practically broke the door down to get in. Nina and Fabian were with her. When she saw him, Nina gasped. She looked terrified and Alfie couldn't blame her. It looked pretty horrid, even to him. Fabian was the only one who was brave enough to approach him.

"This will hurt, Alfie," Fabian warned, getting ready to take the arrow out.

"I know," Alfie said, grimacing. Carefully and slowly, Fabian eased the arrow out of his leg. When it left his soft skin, Alfie yelped in agony.

The second it was out, Amber rushed to his side.

"Alfie, please don't die," Amber pleaded.

"I'm not going to die, Ambs. It's just an injury," he reassured her.

"Thank god," she breathed.

"I'll get some cold water for that," Nina offered before hastily exiting the room.

Fabian took the blood-soaked towels and said he'd get something better to fix it up with. Nina came back with a couple of washcloths dripping with cold water. Alfie flinched when the ice-water touched his wound, so Amber had offered to take care of it. She could tell that Nina was uncomfortable with the situation and let her leave.

When his injury was clean, Fabian came back in with some bandages that he wrapped around his leg.

"I thought I was going to lose you," Amber whimpered when Fabian had left, leaving them alone.

"You won't get rid of me that easily," Alfie said in attempt to joke.

Amber smiled weakly and pressed her lips to his. They held for a long while, putting their emotions into it.

"I love you, Alfie," she murmured as she pulled away.

The joy Alfie felt was indescribable. He'd known he loved her for a long time, but never known exactly how she felt. "I love you, too, Ambs."

**A/N: There you go! Amfie moment! I really like this chapter. I just had to make it dramatic with a romantic ending. It made so much sense. Anyways, the next chapter will be up soon. I promise.**

**~Rainstar42**


	9. Suspicion

**A/N: I know its been a while since I've updated but I've been having a hard time thinking of what to write next. **

Chapter Nine

Amber's POV:

When the blonde woke up, she was lying against Alfie's bed. She realized that she must have fallen asleep there. Alfie was still sleeping peacefully. His injury had gotten much better, seeing as Fabian had fixed it. It was no longer bleeding, so it was just a deep hole in his leg now. Amber was glad he would be okay.

"Ambs?" Alfie's voice sounded tired and strained.

"You should go back to sleep," Amber advised.

"I'm not tired," he replied, obviously stifling a yawn.

Amber sighed. She wasn't going to win this. Her boyfriend could be quite convincing when he wanted to. There was no way she could possibly change his mind.

"Okay," she agreed.

A long pause hung in the air. Both of them just sat there in an undisturbed silence until Jerome walked in.

"Oh, hey," Jerome greeted them awkwardly.

"Hey," Amber replied absently. She turned to Alfie and murmured quietly, "Bye."

"Bye," he murmured back.

Amber left and headed up to her room. When she opened the door, she saw Nina on her laptop, vigorously typing. Fabian was leaning over her shoulder, reading whatever it was she was working on and Amber mumbled a greeting.

"Look Amber," Nina said just as Amber was about to read her fashion magazine.

"What?"

"Fabian and I have been doing some research on Izabel."

"So?"

"We found out something interesting," Nina said enthusiastically.

"Is she a wanted criminal here or something?" Amber asked sarcastically.

"Close," Fabian answered, surprising her. "Izabel is a wanted criminal in the U.K., America, Denmark, and Germany."

Amber's eyes stretched wide. "She's wanted in four countries?"

"Apparently," Nina responded, "All for murder."

"She's murdered people in four countries?"

"Not just murdered. In Denmark and Germany, she was a serial killer. In the U.K. and America, she just killed a couple people for various reasons."

Fabian had risen to his feet and began to exit the room.

"Where are you going?" Amber inquired.

"To mention it to the others. They might have ideas on how to capture her."

"Okay, don't be too long, though," Nina advised.

"Don't worry." Fabian exited the room and Amber heard his footsteps on the stairs moments later.

"Do you have any idea how we're going to catch her?" At Amber's question, Nina looked thoughtful.

"Not really, but I was thinking, since we know she's after Eddie, we could always use him as bait." When Amber opened her mouth to object, Nina said quickly, "With his permission, of course. We aren't going to force him to do anything to put his life in danger without asking him about it first."

"It wasn't that," Amber said impatiently. "How is putting him up as bait going to work? I mean, we don't even know where she's hiding!"

"Good point, but we do know Izabel's always watching," Nina mentioned.

"That's supposed to make us feel better how?" Patricia's voice entered the room, followed by Patricia herself as she entered. Eddie was right behind her.

"Nina was just saying how it make it easier to catch Izabel," Amber put in.

"Wait, you're actually going to try to catch her?" Eddie asked, appalled. "Wouldn't that be suicide?"

"Well, not necessarily," Patricia muttered.

"You actually think catching Izabel is a good idea?" Eddie asked her. Patricia shrugged, saying she didn't disagree with it, and Eddie sighed. "I think you guys are insane."

"And that's what makes us Sibuna," Patricia replied smoothly with a small smile. Amber and Nina grinned in agreement.

* * *

Jerome's POV:

"Have you noticed that Nina, Fabian, Patricia, Eddie, Amber, and Alfie have all been acting weird recently?" Jerome asked as he entered Mara's room.

Joy had gone out somewhere; she always seemed to be going out now. But no one had noticed except Jerome and Mara.

"Yeah," Mara agreed. "Actually, everyone except us has been acting weird. It's like they have something to hide."

"Especially Joy," Jerome muttered.

With a small nod, Mara questioned, "Speaking of Joy, did you see her on your way up here?"

"No, why?"

"Because she left this room about thirty seconds before you came in here."

"Wouldn't I have seen her then?"

"Exactly," Mara said.

"Where did she go then?" Jerome asked.

"I don't know. But I have a feeling that what the others are up to is more important right now."

"By the way, do you know how Alfie got injured?"

"Alfie's hurt?" Mara exclaimed in shock.

"You...didn't know?"

"How could I have known? No one mentioned it."

They sat there, just watching each other, thinking. Joy kept disappearing, but to where? And why were the others acting so strange? But most of all, how had his roommate, his best friend, acquire his severe injury? All Jerome knew was that he would stop at nothing to find the answers.

**A/N: Now Jerome and Mara are getting suspicious. And since I hadn't been writing Joy too much, I had to add something about her. Please help with ideas! Just put some things you'd like to see in my story in your reviews! You can even PM me with ideas too.**

**~Rainstar42**


	10. Secrets

**A/N: I'm sure I've tortured you long enough with not knowing what happens next so here's Chapter 10!**

Chapter 10

Mara's POV:

Mara never quite knew what everyone else was up to. She was better at understanding books than people. But she still knew they were all hiding something.

"Who do you want to stalk first?" Jerome asked in a joking tone.

"Joy," Mara answered almost immediately.

"Why Joy?"

"She's just seemed so..." Mara searched for the right word. "Distant."

"What do you mean by that?" Jerome's clear blue eyes looked troubled at the lost look in his girlfriend's eyes.

"It's just that she used to always want to be around us all. Now she acts like being around us is a crime." It was true. Joy hadn't been around long enough to talk to for weeks. Actually, ever since Mick left.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Jerome murmured. "Do you think she's planning on...leaving?"

Mara's eyes stretched wide in shock. She couldn't! Could she? "Do you really think she would?"

"Well, have you seen her lately? She's in this depressed state that no one ever sees because she's never here."

"How would you know that?" Mara wondered if he'd been with Joy sometime since her mental breakdown.

"A couple of days ago, I ran into her in the forest," Jerome admitted. "She seemed lost. Like she didn't even know how she ended up there. When I helped her back to the house, she vanished. But when I found her, she'd seemed even more upset than we usually see her now."

Worry struck Mara. Joy was her friend. She never wanted to see her friends hurt like that. "Maybe she's in trouble," Mara suggested.

"Maybe."

* * *

Joy's POV:

Nothing would ever be the same. Joy Mercer cried in the forest. Nothing could ever heal her pain. No one could ever see her like this. The most awful thing in her life had taken place and her best friend was clueless.

All of her friends were clueless. It was as if no one cared enough to try and find her. To try to help her. She'd tried so hard to keep her misery a secret. But deep down, Joy really did want someone to notice her; someone to care for her.

The hardest thing was: no one cared enough to find her.

* * *

Patricia's POV:

Joy was gone again. That was nothing new. Her friend was always gone. Sometimes, Patricia wondered if anyone else noticed. She wanted to find out what her friend was up to, she really did, but with Izabel on the loose, she just couldn't find the time.

"Hey Patricia, you spaced off again." Eddie's voice came from right beside her, making her jump a little.

"Sorry," she mumbled.

"Thinking about Joy?" Eddie guessed softly. He knew how much her friend meant to her.

"Yeah," Patricia admitted.

"Why don't we go find her?"

"What?" Patricia was shocked.

"I'm not completely defenseless, you know," Eddie said with a sigh.

"Neither was Alfie," Patricia countered. "And look what happened to him."

"Fine, but who said she was outside," Eddie muttered.

"Uh, when has she ever been inside?"

Eddie didn't answer. The truth was no one knew where Joy was. Ever. But Patricia reminded herself that she had her own problems. Izabel could possibly kill her boyfriend and she didn't want that to happen.

"Doesn't Joy come back at night?" Eddie asked carefully.

"Well, sometimes," Patricia said.

"Sometimes?"

"I really don't know. Occasionally, she won't come back at all. Victor obviously doesn't care enough to make sure we're all here, though. Otherwise he would have noticed."

"Victor never has cared about us. All he wants is to live forever. And working as a housekeeper here is the only way he can achieve that," Eddie said, shaking his head.

"Can't argue with that," Patricia muttered.

"Don't worry about Joy."

"How can I not worry about her? She's my best friend!"

He kissed her softly. "It will be fine. As soon as we've caught Izabel, we can go find her."

"But how long do you think that will take?"

"Not long," Eddie answered reluctantly, as if agreeing to a plan he never wanted to be a part of.

"No," Patricia breathed. She knew exactly what Eddie planned on doing, and she didn't like it at all.

**A/N: I'm aware that this chapter is pretty short, but I'll try to make the next chapter longer! And I'm writing more Jara too! I would tell you why Joy is so upset and what Eddie plans on doing, but that wouldn't be any fun, now would it! :D**

**~Rainstar42**


	11. Never Look Beyond the Clearing

**A/N: Chapter 11 is here! I've been trying to fit all the pairings into the chapters, though its more difficult than some might think. R&R**

Chapter 11

Alfie's POV:

His leg injury was finally getting barely noticeable. It had faded quite a bit, so there was just a slight mark where the arrow had shot him. Alfie was convinced that Izabel had been the one to shoot him. He kept having nightmares of someone, a female, hiding in the shadows, awaiting him. She had drawn her arrow back at Amber. As if he'd known, Alfie had moved to block Amber and the arrow had shot him instead. Amber was with him now.

"I'm so glad you're feeling better!" she exclaimed.

"Ambs, I've been feeling fine for a while you know."

"Well, I know, but still..."

He leaned over to her a gave her a gentle kiss. "I know."

She smiled. "At least now you can help us with our Izabel plan like you wanted. I just can't believe Eddie volunteered to lure Izabel to us. It could be suicide mission!"

"Yeah, and it's kind of weird that Patricia let him," Alfie added.

"Oh, she didn't let him," Amber corrected.

"She didn't?"

"Of course not! Do you think Patricia would just let him be bait for a murderess?" Amber gazed at him pointedly.

"Okay, you make a good point there. But you would have thought Eddie would listen to her. I mean, he doesn't normally do things that put his life in danger because of her."

"I know," Amber said, slightly troubled. "Do you think there's a reason he would do that?"

"There has to be," Alfie reasoned, "He wouldn't otherwise." Eddie had never done anything like that before, so why would he now?

* * *

Nina's POV:

"Are you sure?" Nina asked Eddie.

"Yes, I am," he answered. "I have to. It's the only way."

"But you could die!"

"If we catch Izabel and I die, it wouldn't be for nothing." Nina could feel Eddie's fear as he said these words. He was her protector, but even she could tell how scared he was.

"What about Patricia?" Nina asked. She felt a sudden rock-shattering pain in her heart as she said that. Automatically, she knew it was Eddie's pain. Never before had Nina realized how much Eddie really loved her.

"Look, I'm not going to die," Eddie growled. It was so obvious that he was trying to convince her and Fabian as much as himself. "And it's either this, or we get picked off one by one."

With that, he turned and left. Fabian, who was by Nina's side the whole time, looked shocked.

"Can you believe that?" Nina said.

"No...why would he want to do that?" Fabian asked breathlessly.

"I have no idea. I could feel his pain when I mentioned Patricia," Nina admitted. "It was horrible. He really loves her, you know."

If it was possible, Fabian looked even more shocked at that. "Really?"

"Yeah, it was as if dying on Patricia was the worst crime he could possibly commit," Nina breathed.

A creak from the door made them both glance up. Patricia stepped into the room.

"Sorry, I couldn't help but hear what you were talking about," Patricia said, not sounding sorry at all. She did, however, sound slightly sad. "And I think I can tell you why Eddie would make such a stupid decision."

* * *

Jerome's POV:

Right at the moment, Jerome was wandering the forest with Mara. They were trying to find Joy.

"Do you think she's okay?" Mara fretted.

"I'm sure she's fine," Jerome assured her. Joy hadn't returned home last night. The thing scaring Mara was that she hadn't been there the night before. She never stayed out for two whole days.

"I just have this awful feeling that something happened to her," Mara said in a frightened tone.

"Everything will be fine," Jerome murmured. "We'll find Joy and bring her home. Then, everything will go back to normal."

"Promise?" Mara asked softly.

"Promise," Jerome said, crossing his heart.

* * *

Patricia's POV:

Patricia would show Eddie. She was going to find Joy so he wouldn't risk his life to make her's normal. The gothic redhead had lost herself in the forest in search of her best friend.

But the second she entered the forest, something felt wrong. The air was colder and a deep, hollow feeling was in her chest. She suddenly had a sick intuition that something very bad had happened to her friend. Friends just know what the other is feeling.

Cutting through the forest quickly in search of Joy, Patricia ran into many things. She'd crashed into at least 14 trees and sliced her arm on thistles so much that blood was streaming down her arm and staining her shirt. Her legs were cut up even worse. But she wouldn't give up until she found Joy.

Suddenly, a rustle came from the forest behind her. Someone was coming. It didn't feel like Joy at all. Izabel?

Backing away slowly, Patricia tripped on a rock and fell with thud. Pain went through her.

Two figures emerged as she scrambled to her feet. Patricia's breathing had increased greatly. She almost felt as if she would hyperventilate. Then, the shapes became clearer and clearer until Patricia recognized them.

"Patricia! What are you doing here?" said Mara.

"Mara! Jerome! I came out here looking for Joy."

"So did we," Jerome said.

Mara was friends with Joy, so that made sense, but Jerome? Patricia supposed he tagged along to protect Mara.

"You came by yourself?" Jerome sounded like he thought she couldn't have taken care of herself.

"I can take care of myself you know!" Patricia retorted.

Jerome held his hands up in surrender.

"Why don't we all look together?" Mara suggested.

It looked like Jerome was about to object, but he closed his mouth before he said anything.

They all agreed and veered deeper into the woods. Soon, they came to a small clearing they'd never seen before.

"Wow," Mara breathed.

Patricia silently agreed. It was peaceful and serene here.

"It doesn't look like Joy's out here. We better go back," Jerome said in defeat.

Sadness was surprisingly strong in Patricia. She had really wanted to find her friend. What if Izabel had found her?

"Wait!" Mara suddenly said. "I think I see somethi-"

She broke of with a gasp and stared at the trees in horror. Jerome walked over and looked horrified as well. Knowing it takes a lot to scare Jerome, Patricia approached cautiously. Joy's favorite shoes were peeking out of the bushes.

Patricia rushed over to them, then instantly regretted it. A body lay in the trees. It had no minor wounds. Long, brunette hair flowed out motionlessly on the ground. Only one wound was visible.

A long, fatal slit was in her throat. But that wasn't the worst part. The knife was in her own hand.

As the horrible truth sunk in, Mara whispered the name of the girl who laid dead in front of them.

"Joy."

**A/N: So, what do you think? I know, shocker ending! I love surprises! Sorry if you liked Joy. I actually like Joy too. But I had to do something unexpected to make it more interesting! Anyways, like before: R&R! Ideas are always welcome and in the next chapter you _might_ find out what happened to Joy. *evil grin***

**~Rainstar42**


	12. Joy's Murderer

**A/N: It was hard to think of how to continue and I was writing some other stuff too, so I didn't have much time to think about working on this story. But Chapter 12 is finally up!**

Chapter 12

Patricia stared in shock and horror at her friend, lying in the clearing. Then, something unimaginable happened. Joy moved.

"Did you see that?" Jerome asked in disbelief.

Unable to speak, Patricia nodded. Joy moved again and her face changed to an expression of agony.

"Lets get her back," Mara suggested.

Jerome, being the strongest of us all, lifted Joy carefully off the ground and the three walked silently back to the house. The second they stepped in, all hell broke loose. Thousands of questions were thrown at them, but Trudy ignored them all and called an ambulance for Joy. Patricia watched without saying a word as her friend was carried away by medics. Eddie touched her shoulder with his and she just leaned against him. She didn't even have the heart to tell him not to try and catch Izabel now; she was just too broken.

Everyone left with Mara and Jerome to hear what happened. It was obvious that Patricia couldn't possibly say anything. Eddie didn't even try to talk to her. Patricia could only stare at nothing, thinking about her friend.

* * *

After Jerome had carried Joy back to the house, an ambulance had arrived to pick her up. Then, he and Mara had to explain everything that happened to the whole house, which was quite difficult, given all the interruptions. Alfie had about 200 questions and Amber was no better. Nina and Fabian were the only people who could actually stay quiet while they talked.

When the two had finished giving their take on what had taken place, Jerome and Mara left to Jerome's room.

"How much did they need to know?" Jerome asked, shaking his head.

"Half of Alfie's questions didn't even make sense," Mara agreed. She paused. "Do you think Joy will be okay?"

"I really don't know," Jerome admitted. He knew that some people died from wounds less serious than that and some lived with more severe injuries so it was impossible to tell.

"What if she dies?" Mara had small tears forming in her eyes. Although she and Joy hadn't ever been close friends, it must have been hard for Mara to see her like that, even after everything Joy had done to her.

"She won't die," Jerome tried to reassure her.

"But you just said you didn't know if she would live or not," Mara said.

"Well," Jerome tried to start, but broke off, unsure of how to continue.

Mara just didn't say anything back. A lot of people were taking this badly, but Mara seemed pretty bad. The only person who was definitely worse than her was Patricia.

* * *

Jerome and Mara's story had taken a toll on Nina, too.

Fabian laid a comforting arm on Nina. "Joy will be fine."

"I know I never really liked her, but I still don't want her to die like this. What if it was Izabel?"

"We won't know until she wakes up," Fabian murmured.

"And what if she doesn't wake up?" Nina asked miserably. It was true that Joy and Nina had never been best friends, but it was still hard for her to see Joy like this. She didn't want Joy to die.

"She _will,_" Fabian urged Nina to believe his words. However, Nina could tell that he was trying to convince himself as much as he was trying to convince her.

* * *

"Let's go see Joy," Eddie suggested carefully to Patricia after the hospital called saying she could see friends now.

Patricia barely answered. She just mumbled a "yes" and Eddie could hardly bare to see her like this. Seeing her so broken crushed him. He couldn't possibly risk his life in the Izabel situation now.

When Eddie and Patricia arrived at the hospital, a nurse took them to Joy's room. Joy was half asleep on the white bed in the center of the room.

"Joy?" Patricia breathed.

"Patricia?" Joy asked, blinking open her eyes slightly. A small smile appeared on Joy's face when she saw Patricia there.

"I thought you were dead." Patricia barely spoke, but Joy still heard her.

"So did I," Joy admitted.

"How did you end up there?" That was the million dollar question at the moment.

There wasn't an answer. Joy just stared at Patricia with a horrified look.

"Mi-" She wasn't even speaking in full sentences anymore. A couple of words came out, but none seemed to fit together. "Crash-"

"What are you talking about?" Eddie asked, coming up behind Patricia.

Then, Joy came back. "What are you looking at?"

"You were just saying something," Patricia said cautiously.

"I was?" Joy seemed genuinely confused, like she really had no idea that she said anything.

"All we want to know is how you almost got killed," Eddie said softly.

"Woman," Joy said with a lost expression. "In the forest. She...hated us. Said she wanted us all dead. Said we killed her love."

After that, Joy broke off, horror taking her again. The nurse came in and told Eddie and Patricia to leave.

"Why was Joy so...?" Patricia didn't know how to finish her own question.

"I have no idea," Eddie answered.

**A/N: Again, I'm aware its a short chapter, but I'm trying to make them longer! Oh, and I just couldn't make Joy die, however, there is a reason she was out in the forest in the first place and you might find out in the second chapter, might not. I'll think about whether or not I should let you in on it. But, until then, I will keep writing the next chapter (and all the chapters after that).**

**~Rainstar42**


	13. One More Victim

**A/N: It was difficult to figure out how to continue this, but I finally got it. I figured I'd put Joy and her reason for being in the forest, some Peddie, a bit of Fabina, and a deadly amount of Izabel! **

Chapter 13

Joy was well enough to go home by the end of the week. She was so happy to be back with her friends all the time now, but she still seemed so sad. Patricia was keeping an eye on her. Now that she had gotten over the shock of the incident, Patricia was back to her old self. Mostly.

"Are you sure you can't remember anything?" Patricia asked her friend.

"Well, sometimes I remember bits of it," Joy admitted.

"Like," she tried to ease answers out of her.

"I remember a woman. She was mad at us for killing her love?" The reply came out like a question. "She looked kind of like Vera. But she wasn't. Then, the lady tried to kill me and planted the knife on me. I think she was listening to me and figured that you would think I'd committed suicide or something."

"What do you mean she must have been listening to you?" Patricia was confused. What had Joy said that would have made Izabel think she'd easily try to kill herself?

"You know, when Mick left a while ago?" Joy sounded uneasy, like there was something she just couldn't bear to hold in any longer than she already had.

"Yeah?"

"Hi-his plane went through a severe storm," she choked out. "They only found some people, but they were dead. Mick hasn't been found yet."

Shocked, Patricia didn't know how to reply. Her friend had to cope with something that difficult and lived through it without telling anyone. Pity rushed over her.

"I'm sorry," Patricia murmured.

"It's okay," Joy mumbled.

Doubting she could say anything more to comfort her friend, Patricia left.

* * *

"It's never going to be okay!" Nina whisper-shouted at Fabian.

"Yes it will," he tried to reassure her. "Once we catch Izabel and everything goes back to normal, this won't seem so bad."

"But-"

"It will be fine," Fabian said firmly. "You don't need to worry about anything."

She still didn't look certain, so Fabian leaned over and kissed her lightly. Nina gave a small smile, but still looked somber.

"Are you sure?" she asked softly.

"Of course I'm sure. Have I ever been wrong?"

* * *

Eddie decided to not go after Izabel. He couldn't hurt Patricia any more than she'd already suffered. When he tried to leave his room, though, he crashed into Patricia in his doorway, causing them both to fall.

"Hi to you, too," she grumbled sarcastically, getting up cautiously.

He laughed and got up as well. "Sorry I didn't know you were there."

"Obviously."

There was a small awkward silence. They stood in the doorway.

"I know why Joy was acting so weird," Patricia mentioned slowly.

"Why?"

"Mick's plane crashed. They haven't found him yet. All the other passengers found were dead. The few that were found alive died within days."

Eddie didn't know what to say to that. What could he say? "That must have been hard for her."

"Yeah." She seemed eager to change the subject when she asked, "So what were you doing?"

It took him a while before he remembered that he'd been going to tell the Sibunas that he wasn't going to go after Izabel. "I can't go after Izabel," he said.

"Why not? You wanted to before," Patricia replied, but he could see that her eyes glimmered with relief.

"You didn't want me to," he reminded her.

Patricia smiled. "You might as well tell the others."

He knew she meant the rest of the Sibunas. "Okay."

* * *

Nina looked up in surprise when Eddie walked through the door.

"Hey, Nina," Eddie greeted her and Fabian.

"Hey," Nina said in slight confusion. "What are you doing here?"

"I can't go after Izabel," he admitted.

"Why?" Fabian was bewildered. He'd seemed so sure before.

"It...it's hard to explain," he stammered.

"This wouldn't have anything to do with Patricia, would it?" Nina raised an eyebrow. She knew when something was up with him, just like he knew when she was in trouble.

"She hasn't been herself since she found Joy," Eddie admitted.

"It's true," Fabian supported his roommate.

Nina nodded in understanding. "It's okay. We'll figure out another plan. How hard can it be?"

* * *

Slowly, a figure moved through the forest. She knew that Izabel would be somewhere around here. This was where Alfie had been shot. It was near where Joy was nearly killed, too. Pain went through her as she remembered how broken Joy had been. The only way to save her friends was to kill Izabel now.

She gripped the knife in her hand tightly. Worry spread across her mind. Had her friends noticed her absence? Would Izabel find her before she found Izabel?

A cold breeze seemed to echo off of the trees behind her and she whirled around.

"Well this is a surprise," a purr murmured in the forest.

_Izabel._

"I didn't expect it to be you. That boy seemed like he would come after me to protect you all, but I truly didn't expect you."

The deadly sister of Vera sounded close, but she couldn't pinpoint her location.

"What do you want with us?" she yelled out to open forest.

"To avenge Rufus, as you should know. You killed him."

"No. We didn't. Rufus killed himself. He thought that putting the mask on would make him immortal, but it only sent him to hell."

"That's a lie! I know it is! You tell yourselves that because you don't want to believe you killed someone! But I know the truth. And I'll kill you just like I killed Vera and that girl I found in the forest."

A sudden pain pierced her side. She glanced down to see another arrow just like the one Alfie was shot with and fell to the ground.

The girl was sure Izabel was gone now and a few hours passed by. Then, just before she blacked out, a voice called out her name.

**A/N: I'm mean, I know. But I just had to do one more person. And I couldn't possibly tell you who got Izabeled this time. (don't you like the word I made up for it? :)**

**~Rainstar42**


	14. Patricia's Boredom

**A/N: I had to debate on who to make the victim from the last chapter. (I know, I made someone get almost-killed and I didn't even decide who it was?) So, anyways you can R&R and find out who the final (or maybe not final D) victim is.**

Chapter 14

When he went to find her, she was gone. He knew immediately she'd gone after Izabel. She had done it to stop everything that was happening. Nothing could have changed her mind.

But when he found her out in the forest, he was horrified.

"Patricia!" Eddie called out, rushing to her side. She had been shot by an arrow, just like Alfie had. Except this time it had struck her side, not her leg.

It was almost instantly obvious that she had passed out. He wasn't sure if it was because of shock or pain.

Eddie carefully took the arrow out. His mom had made him learn how to deal with situations like this in America. Then, he'd complained that it was boring and he wouldn't ever need to learn it. Now, he was silently thanking her. When the arrow was safely out, he picked her up gently in his arms and carried her back.

The second he walked in, Trudy was at the door.

"What happened?" Trudy exclaimed when she saw Patricia.

Alfie and Amber were the only ones around, luckily. Nina and Fabian were on a double date with Jerome and Mara and Joy was sleeping in her room.

"Is she dead?" Amber asked, obviously scared.

"She's not dead," Eddie explained. "She got shot, like Alfie. I found her in the forest. I think she passed out."

While Trudy treated her, Eddie watched from a distance. He didn't want to leave her. But Amber couldn't stand to see Patricia so weak, therefore, she left and Alfie followed her.

Eddie could hardly believe it either. Patricia always seemed stronger than the rest of them. Even when she was clearly wrong, she never backed down. When she woke, Patricia would feel as if she lost her pride losing to Izabel.

Trudy finished fixing her wound and had Eddie take her back upstairs to her room with Joy.

"What happened to Patricia?" Joy asked the minute he walked in.

"She got shot with an arrow," Eddie explained again. He told her exactly what happened. The only thing he added was that he knew Izabel.

"Why does Izabel hate us?" Joy inquired in bewilderment.

"I don't know," Eddie lied.

Patricia was set down on her bed and Eddie sat beside her. He wasn't going to leave her side until he was sure she was better.

* * *

He must have fallen asleep because the next thing Eddie remembered was Patricia nudging him awake.

"Eddie," Patricia whispered, trying to wake him.

"You're awake," he observed, seeing her sitting up completely.

"How else could I talk to you?"

"You could be sleep talking," he reasoned.

"True, but if I was asleep, I wouldn't feel pain," she reminded him.

"Why did you go off like that?" Eddie was still struggling to believe that Patricia had gone off alone into the forest to confront Izabel.

She shrugged. "I just didn't want to see you get hurt like everyone else."

"The only thing that could hurt me is you. Don't ever do anything like that again."

Patricia nodded in agreement and Eddie captured her lips in his.

"Hey, I'm trying to eat here and you two are going to make me vomit," Joy said, smiling a bit despite her half-harsh tone. Trudy was bringing her food to her room until she completely recovered, even though Joy kept complaining that she could walk perfectly fine.

Eddie pulled away from Patricia reluctantly. Just then, Trudy came in.

"Patricia, you've been excused from school today," Trudy told her. She turned to Eddie. "But you still have to go to school, so I would suggest getting ready." She then left and Patricia, Eddie, and Joy were left.

"At least you can keep me company," Joy said optimistically.

"Yeah and I can miss class," Patricia agreed. She looked at Eddie. "Bye, Eddie."

"Bye, Yacker."

* * *

Patricia was bored while school went on. Joy wasn't that entertaining and there was nothing to do. She was wide awake, so there was no hope in sleeping. Just before she thought she would die of boredom, though, Eddie texted her. He said he was going to skip next class to come and see her.

She crept downstairs, easily getting past Victor, who had decided to take a nap. Trudy was out shopping, so Patricia didn't have to worry about running into her. Eddie was in the living quarters and she sat down on the couch next to him. Her side was killing her, but she figured she would take some pain medicine as soon as Eddie left.

"Hi," she greeted him happily.

"So, how are you?"

"Well, I _was_ going to die of boredom," Patricia joked.

"Was Joy that boring?"

"Since she kept spacing out and completely forgetting what we were talking about, yeah."

"Wow. That does sound pretty boring."

"I think I'd rather be in school," Patricia said, showing just how bored she was.

Eddie laughed. "_You _would rather be in school?"

"As crazy as it sounds, yes. I think you would rather be in school, too."

"No, I would rather be with you."

Patricia smiled and Eddie kissed her. She put her arm around his neck, holding him there.

She wanted Trudy to keep her from school more often.

* * *

Nina sat in class, glancing at Fabian next to her.

He gave her a knowing look.

She knew that it was wrong to keep secrets from her friends.

But this was one secret that had to be kept. At least for now.

**A/N: Two chapters in one day! I definitely knew what to write today. I must have just woken up this morning and been like, "Hey, I think I'm going to write two chapters today!" I even wrote another chapter in my other story! I'm going to continue updating, no worries. And should I make more people get Izabeled? Still debating...**

**~Rainstar42**


	15. Trapped in Anubis House

**A/N: Chapter 15 is now up! So R&R or Izabel might come after you...**

Chapter 15

After about a week, both Joy and Patricia had fully recovered and started going back to school. However, Patricia still had a scar and nothing had gone right after her injury.

On his way to school one day, Eddie had a knife thrown at him. Luckily, it barely missed. While Nina and Fabian were on a date at a fancy restaurant, they almost drank poison. Fortunately, Nina had smelt something weird in their drinks and neither of them had drunken it. Alfie had found venomous snakes in his bed and Amber was chased by hornets after a giant nest was thrown at her. She had a narrow escape, but only got stung once.

Nothing was normal anymore. Izabel seemed to be getting better at wounding them. All they'd had was luck. Soon, they would be out of luck and Izabel would take that moment to her advantage and kill them easily.

Amber had wanted to go shopping for new outfits after school, but Izabel's recent attacks had completely ruined that plan. At least she could spend time with Alfie.

"I can't believe we can't leave," Alfie muttered.

"I know! We're trapped in our own house!" Amber said angrily. "And I really wanted to go shopping, too."

"What's wrong with the clothes you already have?" Alfie asked, examining her wardrobe. There was everything from designer tops, to the latest designs in skirts and dresses.

"I've worn all of them!" she exclaimed like it was obvious.

"So? Just wear some of them again," Alfie suggested.

"Is that a new style or something? Wearing clothes you've already worn once?" Amber asked curiously.

"Well everyone else does it..." Alfie said awkwardly, not knowing the first thing about fashion.

"Oh, well then okay!" She looked more cheerful now.

"When do you think Izabel will stop trying to kill us?" Alfie said in attempt to switch the subject off fashion.

"When she's dead," Amber answered immediately. "Or if she's in prison. But the only way you could force her behind bars is if you killed her first."

Alfie nodded in silent agreement. "Do you think she'll kill us first?"

"No way! If we stick together, she can't do anything," Amber said firmly. "And nothing can hurt more than separating us from our friends."

"True," Alfie admitted. He knew he'd be lost without Amber. It was true she hadn't always been the easiest girlfriend to get along with, but he still loved her. And she felt the same way. Amber had told him that at the end of every little disagreement they had. And every time she'd meant it.

* * *

"We need to get Izabel soon," Nina grumbled.

"I won't object," Fabian agreed. "This is getting ridiculous."

"It's like she's put a net around us!"

"There is one way to get to her," Fabian suggested.

"You don't mean..." Nina trailed off, understanding every word.

"It might be the only way," he said.

"But it would mean telling," she reminded him. They had kept the secret for so long. But if they wanted to defeat Izabel, telling the secret might be the only hope.

"Would it make things worse or better, though?" Fabian murmured.

"It could make things better."

"It could also make them worse."

"So maybe we should just tell them," Nina caved in slightly.

"I think maybe we should," Fabian admitted. "But not just yet."

"Why not?"

Fabian didn't answer immediately. He paused, then said, "It just feels like we need to wait a bit longer."

Nina nodded in understanding. He was right. The secret would be kept for just a bit longer.

* * *

"I still feel like their not telling us everything," Mara mumbled.

"Yeah, first Alfie, then Joy, and now Patricia," Jerome said, shaking his head. "And weird things keep happening to the others. Eddie had a small cut not long ago, Alfie found snakes in our room, Amber had only one hornet sting, but acted like she was attacked by bears, and Fabian and Nina came back from a date looking like they'd seen a ghost."

"They need to stop keeping secrets from us all the time," Mara said in annoyance. She was usually nice, but their activity just made her want to tie them up and threaten them until they confessed.

"Maybe we should spy on them?" Jerome suggested aloud.

Mara looked shocked. "We can't do that! They're our friends!"

"Our friends who have been keeping secrets from us. We deserve to know, don't you think?" Jerome gazed pointedly at Mara.

She finally crumbled in defeat. "Fine. But I don't have to like it."

"Then why are you going to?"

"Because I want to know what they're up to just as much as you do."

**A/N: I actually finished three chapters in one day. New record! Shorter chapter, I know, but I'm still updating (as you can probably tell if you're reading this).**

**~Rainstar42**


	16. Spying and Facing New Danger

**A/N: Almost finished this yesterday, but just barely didn't have enough time. So its uploaded now! :)**

Chapter 16

"Sibuna meeting," Nina whispered urgently to Patricia and Eddie in the living room. Fabian and Nina had decided that the only way to defeat Izabel was telling everything they knew.

"What for?" Patricia asked suspiciously.

"There's more news," Nina reported.

They all headed upstairs to Nina's room. Fabian had already found Amber and Alfie.

"What's this about?" Amber questioned, sounding slightly annoyed.

"There is something we didn't tell you about Izabel," Fabian explained.

"I thought we all decided to share everything we knew," Alfie protested angrily.

"Yeah!" Amber supported him. "You promised, too. Did you lie?"

"No, we just thought it would only make things worse if we told you," Nina said.

"Then why tell us now?" Patricia asked.

"Because it might be the only way to defeat her," Fabian admitted.

"Just tell us already!" Alfie exclaimed.

"Izabel has a daughter," Nina said.

"A daughter?" Amber said, dumbfounded.

"How is that going to make things worse?" Eddie inquired.

"Her daughter, Mackenzie Zeno, is older than we are because she drank the life elixir, too," Fabian mentioned. "She looks our age, but she's trained for years to live up to her mother's expectations."

"Does that mean..." Alfie broke off, realizing what they were really dealing with.

"Yes," Nina confirmed. "Izabel wasn't alone when she was attacking us each time. Mackenzie has been working with her to kill us all. There are two enemies, not one."

Everyone stared at her and Fabian in shock. How exactly were they supposed to kill _two_ people who had drunken the elixir for life and had more time to train than all of them combined?

* * *

"They all just went to Nina's room," Mara whispered to Jerome.

"Good, now let's follow them," he instructed. "But remember to be quiet."

"I can be quiet, thank you very much!" Mara snapped.

He didn't respond. Jerome figured that she was so snappy because she was nervous. Even though he was too, he wouldn't admit it. She would just be more nervous.

Both of them sneaked up to Nina's room and heard them talking.

"There's something we didn't tell you about Izabel," a voice said.

"That sounds like Fabian," Mara whispered. "But who's Izabel?"

"Shh," Jerome shushed her.

"We thought it would only make things worse if we tell you," Nina's voice said.

"Then why tell us now?" Patricia asked.

"Because it might be the only way to defeat her," Fabian admitted.

"What are they talking about? Why do they need to defeat this Izabel person?" Jerome murmured to himself.

"Izabel has a daughter," Nina said.

"A daughter?" Amber said, dumbfounded.

"How is that going to make things worse?" Eddie inquired.

"Her daughter, Mackenzie Zeno, is older than we are because she drank the life elixir, too," Fabian mentioned. "She looks our age, but she's trained for years to live up to her mother's expectations."

"Does that mean..." Alfie broke off, realizing what they were really dealing with.

"Yes," Nina confirmed. "Izabel wasn't alone when she was attacking us each time. Mackenzie has been working with her to kill us all. There are two enemies, not one."

Jerome motioned to Mara to follow him. They headed to his room.

"There's someone trying to kill them?" Mara asked in disbelief.

"That must be why they keep coming back with all those injuries," Jerome realized.

"Yeah, Patricia's and Alfie's arrow injuries looked identical," Mara added.

"But Joy was killed with a knife," Jerome pointed out.

"Then one of them is using a bow and arrow and the other is using a knife," Mara figured.

"The real question is: who is using what?" Jerome shook his head. "Izabel sounds like she'd be easier to kill, seeing as she's older. Mackenzie has youth and a 'life elixir' on her side. What is a life elixir anyways?"

"It sounds like it makes you live longer," Mara pointed out.

"You're probably right, but-"

Just then, Alfie and Amber walked in.

"Hey, Jerome," Alfie greeted his friend.

"What were you talking about?" Amber said. She had a suspicious look in her eye. Had she heard anything they said?

"Oh, nothing," Mara said quickly. "Just school stuff."

"Jerome was talking about school stuff?" Amber sounded doubtful.

"Yeah, I talked him into it," Mara covered.

"It took_ a lot_ of convincing," Jerome put in, emphasizing 'a lot'.

"Whatever," Amber said, flipping her curly blonde hair back.

Alfie quickly took something from under his bed. Jerome didn't see what it was, but it looked like Alfie was trying to hide it.

"Bye," Alfie said swiftly before he and Amber made a hasty exit.

"Do you think they heard what we were talking about?" Mara asked nervously.

"I don't know, but they're still up to something," Jerome murmured. "And we're gong to find out what it is."

* * *

"Did you hear them?" Amber screeched quietly to Alfie once they were out of earshot. "They must have heard our Sibuna meeting!"

"I know! We should have been more careful," Alfie said shamefully.

"Yeah, let's go warn the others then go down into the tunnels."

They met the rest of the Sibunas upstairs. Eddie had gotten his amulet from Victor. They'd stolen it back some time ago. Victor still hadn't found it.

"Let's go," Nina said.

"Wait!" Alfie said.

"Before we go, we need to tell you something," Amber added. "Mara and Jerome were eavesdropping on our last Sibuna meeting!"

"What!" Eddie sounded shocked.

"I would have expected this from Jerome, but Mara?" Patricia sounded surprised. "She must have been really worried to listen to our conversation like that."

"Totally," Amber agreed.

"Anyways, we can deal with them later," Nina said, "Right now, we need to get to the tunnels before Victor comes back!"

They were going through the tunnels since they needed to go to the library and couldn't let Izabel or Mackenzie catch them outside.

"Alright, come on!"

Quickly, they used the secret passage to get to the cellar and then went into the tunnel. They pulled out their amulets to prevent themselves from going blind and easily made their way through the tunnels. Eddie had a bit more trouble since he hadn't actually been through the tunnels before, but he still made it through.

However, when they reached the end where the last clue to find the mask had been, a terrifying surprise was waiting.

"Ah, I figured you would show sooner or later," a sweet, young voice purred. "See, Mom? I told you."

"Yes, Mackenzie, I guess you did," said an older voice that didn't sound all that happy.

"Izabel," Nina growled.

"Oh, you brought your whole Scuba gang, how lovely," Izabel mocked.

"It's Sibuna and we're not going down easy," Amber snapped.

"Good, I hoped you would say that! It would have been so boring to kill you easily," Mackenzie said evilly, pulling out two silver daggers, just like the one that Joy had been almost killed with and Eddie had been nearly stabbed with.

"Ready to fight?" Izabel asked her daughter, revealing a bow with perfect arrows built for killing.

The Sibunas stood their ground and prepared for the most dangerous mission they'd ever gone on.

**A/N: Kind of a sucky ending, I know, but I had to make you freak out at the end! It's just too much fun to not let you know what happens next! Sorry. Anyways, the next chapter should be up soon. (oh, and I bet none of you saw a daughter of Izabel's coming)**

**~Rainstar42**


	17. Greatest Battle

**A/N: This chapter is probably the reason I rated it T. So, if you don't like violence, you can skip to the end. Just a slight warning. **

Chapter 17

Eddie felt Nina's terror. She looked strong at the head of the Sibunas, but he could tell that she was far from ready for this. None of them were prepared. Mackenzie and Izabel stared at them, as if expecting them to make a first move.

Not all of them were completely defenseless. But when it came to beating Izabel and her daughter, they were virtually hopeless.

Izabel decided to make the first move. She drew an arrow back and launched it at Amber. The perky blonde saw it coming, though, and ducked in time.

Then, Mackenzie dove towards us. It was immediately obvious that she was insanely talented with the two daggers she held. The dark-haired girl wove her way through us, swinging the fatally sharp blade at us, luckily missing each time.

Amber, who was clearly untrained for this situation, fell back and Alfie covered her as Mackenzie swung one of her daggers at Alfie. It was hard to know exactly what happened, as it happened so fast, but Alfie blocked Amber and it struck him in the shoulder.

Nina and Fabian were working together to go near Izabel, dodging the arrows she shot at them. Eddie knew they wouldn't need too much help. Eventually, Izabel would run out of arrows. But then, she did have an impressive amount of the deadly weapons.

Then, Eddie realized he didn't see Patricia. She had been right next to him the whole time. He threw his gaze all over the area, but didn't notice a thing until he saw a shadow move.

Patricia was nearly right behind Mackenzie, who had cornered both Alfie and Amber. The two had no defense at all and Patricia suddenly darted in and stole one of Mackenzie's daggers.

It was instantly obvious that the sudden attack did not make Mackenzie very happy. She turned her full attention towards Patricia, who held her dagger in her right hand.

A cry of help echoed, causing all of them, even Mackenzie and Patricia, to glance towards Nina and Fabian's direction.

Shock pulsed through everyone when they saw who had been struck down.

Mackenzie stared in horror and Eddie couldn't believe what he was seeing. Izabel was dead.

There was no doubt in anyone's mind that the treacherous old woman had finally paid for her murders. Nina was in deep shock too. Mackenzie knew that Nina had been the one to kill her mother and her vengeful glare focused on her. Fabian held her as Patricia broke into Mackenzie's path and Mackenzie's own dagger met her chest in one noxious movement.

Mackenzie's eyes filled with hatred, and maybe slight regret, before they turned cold and cloudy.

No one said a word. Patricia was frozen. She still held the dagger that was locked in Mackenzie's chest. It had, without a doubt, taken a serious toll on her.

She'd been the one to help rescue Joy when her friend was nearly dead. She had seen the effects of Alfie's wounds. Patricia had even been in a near-death experience. But never, had she been the cause of a death.

Eddie slowly made his way to her and took her hand of Mackenzie's weapon.

Everyone got up in easily and casually made their way over. Patricia didn't have any injuries. None of them had been injured too terribly. The arrow that was in Alfie's shoulder had been taken out by Amber, surprisingly.

"What should we do with those two?" Fabian asked, motioning to Izabel and Mackenzie after a long silence.

"We should send them to where we were trapped when we fell through the floor."

Patricia's answer shocked everyone. They all had thought she was still in shock from killing Mackenzie. Yet, they all agreed to her proposal and took the two them down there.

Neither had anyone who would want to say goodbye to them. Most people would probably want to burn their dead bodies for all the murders they caused.

"Let's go," Nina suggested.

They all nodded and left.

* * *

After two months, the whole situation died down. None of the Sibunas had gone into the tunnels since the incident and probably wouldn't for the rest of their lives. But things all went back to normal.

Eddie sat next to Patricia in Mr. Sweet's class. It was pretty boring.

"Do you think he ever gets tired of lecturing us?" Patricia asked with a small laugh.

"Probably not," Eddie mused. "I think he actually _likes_ teaching." He pretended to sound astonished.

They both tried to keep their conversation quiet, but ended up failing miserably. Mr. Sweet gave them a week detention.

"At least it's better than Victor's idea of detention," Patricia said optimistically.

"Yeah, and at least it's some way to spend more time with you," Eddie said.

"Because there's no better way to bond than over detention," she agreed.

"No talking!" Mr. Sweet barked at them.

"Your dad's the nicest person I've ever met," Patricia said sarcastically.

"Be grateful my dad isn't Victor," Eddie grumbled. "_That_ would be a nightmare."

Since they couldn't even keep quiet in detention, they were put under house arrest. And they weren't the only ones.

Amber decided to help Alfie pull a prank on the teachers and it didn't end very well.

Nina and Fabian were at the library, when they accidentally hit the fire alarm and for some reason it set of the alarm in the school too.

Jerome drug Mara into one of his schemes and they were both caught.

Joy was fine. Mick had been found two weeks after Izabel and Mackenzie were killed. He had some bad injuries, but he lived. After she graduated, she was going to travel to Australia to live with him there.

And graduation was coming up soon. None of them could wait, even though not all of them were prepared for graduation. Amber figured her dad would pay for everything she needed, so she wasn't fretting at all, but Eddie's dad put him on his own. Patricia felt kind of bad for him, but decided he would get his grades up in time, like Alfie. Jerome was doing well, with the help of Mara. Joy was doing excellent in her schoolwork, too. Nina and Fabian didn't have to worry at all.

Yet, all of them were freaking out for different reasons. Then again, that was just a normal day in the House of Anubis. And it was undeniably better than chasing some Ancient Egyptian mystery, so they wouldn't have it any other way.

**A/N: FINISHED! Although I don't totally love the ending, I think it works. Oh, and ironically, I was listening to 'Dark Side' by Kelly Clarkson while writing the Izabel and Mackenzie scene. Anyways, I was thinking of writing another House of Anubis story about after they graduate.** **:)**

**~Rainstar42**


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